In a perplexing change of events, we decided to throw our tournament philosophy out the window, as if to say, “Here, Spain… This is what we’re going to do. We’re gonna sit back on our heels, and let you come to us. You know, because that‘s the way we’ve played this entire tournament…” Yikes.

For those of you expecting a re-match of the European Championship of 2008, I invite you to think again. I said then, after that final match in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadion, on these very pages, that Germany was “the worst second place team I’ve ever seen”. A bit harsh, in hindsight, but true none-the-less. They were a bitter, mostly old, infighting squad who only really gave an inspired match against Portugal, and a nervy one against Turkey, to advance to the final.

“What's the matter Schweinsteiger? Are you nervoushh?" - Diego Maradona

Errr… not one bit, as it would turn out.

Serendipity. It’s one of my favorite words in the English language. It has a complex and nuanced meaning that, at its' core, can be broken down to mean “a happy accident”. When I use it in a sentence, I would say, “The injury sustained to Michael Ballack was serendipitous for Jogi Loew and die Mannschaft.”

I've been dying to do a little trash-talking lately, and this match seemed, to me, to be the perfect place to start. I've enlisted the help of a very excellent writer, and good friend: Gus Sanchez. He and I met over the interwebs several years back, mutually admiring each other's writing styles. And now we're friends, in real life, despite his being a Manchester United and Argentina supporter. Eh. We can't all be perfect...